Packing apparatus



April 22 1924.

W. W. STEARNS PACKING APPARATUS Flled June 2 192K 3 nvm/Worf.'

Patented Apr. 22, 1924.

raiser PACKING' APPARA'TS.

Application fried' Jun-e 2,

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, WTALTER W. S'rnARNs, a citizen of the United States,residing at Bualo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Packing Apparatus, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had therein to'the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to packing appara tus and more particularly tothat type of apparatus in which a vacuum producing means is associateddirectly with a container and in which the cover or closure member! ofthe container' is` enclosed within a portion of the packing apparatusand acts as a check-valve to permit egress of air from the container andprevent ingress of air thereinto.

Heretofore in devices of this character the apparatus was designed tooperate in conjunction with special typesof containers or was made toenclose the entire container, in which latter instance it was necessaryto first place the container in the receptacle and then attach theexhausting` pump to the receptacle. The disadvantages of this type ofdevice are obvious and equirenodiscussion. The first type of devicerequiring a particular type of container made it necessary, if thepacking apparatus were tobe used, to purchase an entire new equipment ofcontainers, which made the use of the packing apparatus almostprohibitive.

It is therefore the principal objects of this invention to avoid thedifficulties which have been encountered in the promotion of devices oftheV types mentioned, and to pro-y videa device which is applicable toany type of Ordinar f preserving jar. y

A further object of the invention is the production of a cheap andefficient device for exhausting air from ordinary packing containerssuch as the glass jars commonly in use in households for preservingarticles of food, and also to provide a device which not only can beapplied to any type of preserving jar now on the market, but which isconveniently applied and operated, and requires no special course ofinstruction in its use.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a vacuum packingapparatus for use on domestic preserving receptacles wherein means isprovided for conveniently 1923'. serial No. 643,094.

adjusting the tension applied to thel cover or closure member of thecontainer, and' to provide safety means by which the amount of vacuumproduced within the container may be regulated to prevent rupture ofsaid container. j

Further objects of the invention will appear as the following specificdescription is read in connection-with the accompanying drawing whichforms a part of this application, and in ,which- Figure l is anelevation of the device' on'v a reduced scale and showing a modied typevof plunger handle;

Figure 2 is a detail vertical sectionalview on an enlarged scale andvshowing the preferred type of handle'to be employed; and

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line See-3 ofFigure 25.

Referring now to the drawing Iv have illustrated, for the purpose ofshowing the operation of this device, an ordinary domestic preservingjar of the Atlas type. This container is illustrated generally at l andis provided as is usual, with a reduced neck 2 forming a shoulder 3which merges the neck gradually into the body of the conL tainer. Thejar isA sealed by ay cap kor closure member 4L which rests upon lapacking gasket 5 usually of rubber. All ofthe foregoing parts are partsof th'e ordinary Atlas type of jar and generally embody features foundin all domestic preservingreceptacles. y

The packing apparatus which coacts with the container comprises a hood 6of cylindrical form in general outline, open at its lower end and closedat its upper end by an integral top piece 7 which supports the pumpbarrel 8 rising perpendiculafrly'there-4 from.

Projecting from the lower end' of the' hood 6 is an annular packinggasket 9 of any suitable material, but preferably of soft andcomparatively resilient rubber which is held in place by a clamping band10 of any pre'- ferred construction. This packing gasket 9 when thedevice is applied tothe container is adapted to rest upon and tit theshoulder' 3 snugly so as to prevent the ingress of any air at thispoint, and being of very flexible material will conform to anyinaccuracies in the container.

At intervals throughout the height oft-he hood I provide upon oppositesides thereof a plurality of grooves 11 extending in parallel lines andseparated vertically, and at their terminal ends by a smooth portion 12.These grooves are arranged in pairs, one upon either side of the innerface of the hood, and are arranged to receive the terminal hooked ends13 of a bridge piece 14, which is arched downwardly as shown, and hasdepending from its longitudinal center a light spiral spring 15 adaptedto bear upon the center' of the closure member 4 whereby said closuremember will be held firmly seated against the gasket 5, but whichpermits free upward movement of said closure member to unseat it fromthe gasket 5 when a predetermined quantity of air has been exhaustedfrom the hood 6 as will be hereinafter described.v

By turning the bridge piece 14 so as to relieve the hooked ends thereoffrom the opposite grooves 11 and so they will ride upon the smoothportions 12 the bridge piece 14 may be raised or lowered in the hood toaccommodate the same to preserving jars having varying neck lengths, andthereby insure proper contact of the spring in each instance with theclosure member 4.

The pump barrel 8 is closed at its upper end by a centrally aperturedcap 1G and sliding through the aperture in the cap is a piston rod 17preferably having its handle formed as an integral part thereof and inthe manner shown at 18, so as to limit its downward movement and thusprevent injury to the operators fingers. The handle, however, may beconstructed as shown at 19 in Figure 1 if desired. The lower end of thepiston rod has secured thereon by means of 'a nut 2O the piston which,as shown, is constructed of a packing cup 21 disposed between' the disks22 and 23. The former being of somewhat smaller diameter than the latterso as to receive the flanges of the packing cup between its peripheryand the inner walls of the pump barrel.

The disks 22 and 23, and the packing cup 21 are provided with alignedports 24 for the passage of air, and these ports are closed upon theupper side of the piston by a checkvalve 25 which is in the form of aflexible disk surrounding the piston rod 17 and limited in its upwardmovement by projections 26 struck up from the piston rod in a well knownmanner.

Within the connes of the pump barrel the cap piece 7 of the hood 6 isprovided with a plurality of apertures 27 and seated upon the uppersurface of the cap piece is a rubber or other suitable packing gasket 28having corresponding apertures 29 arranged therein. Seated upon thisgasket is an imperforate disk 30 having an integral stem 31 threaded atits lower end to receive an adjusting nut 32. Arranged between the nutand the bottom of the cap piece 7 is a spiral spring 33 which actsnormally to hold the disk seated against the gasket 28 and to preventany ingress of air into the hood upon the down-stroke of the piston, butpermitting the elevation of the disk 30 upon the up-stroke of the pistonso as to exhaust air from the hood.

In the operation of the device the hood is placed over the neck of thevessel, the hood being of sufficient size to encompass the neck of anyordinary domestic preserving container, and the gasket 9 pressed firmlyinto engagement with the shoulder 3 on the body of the receptacle. Atthis time if the bridge piece 14 isA properly adjusted the spring 15will engage the closure. member 4 and hold the same Seated against thegasket 5 so as to prevent any ingress of air into the receptable 1. Theoperator then manipulates the pump while holding the hood {irmly inposition, the up-stroke of the piston exhausting air from the hood andfrom the receptacle. Repeated strokes of the pump will exhaust the airfrom the receptacle to the required degree when the hood may be liftedfrom the receptacle.

After the hood has been raised from the receptacle the atmosphericpressure is suiiicient to firmly hold the closure member in positionupon the gasket and to prevent any ingress of air into the container'.This, of course, being due to the sub-atmospheric pressure within thecontainer.

In order that the operator may determine accurately how much air toexhaust from the receptacle, and in order to conveniently destroy thevacuum within the hood so that it may be removed from the containerwithout 'effort on the part of the operator, I provide a combined safetyand relief valve which is located to one side of the pump barrel on thecap piece 7. This valve comprises a shank 34 externally threaded uponits upper end to receive an internally threaded adjusting nut 35.Between this nut and the cap piece is located a spiral spring l36 whichnormally holds the head of the bolt 37 with its interposed packinggasket 38 firmly against the underside of the cap piece so as to closethe opening through which the shank passes, and which opening issomewhat larger than the shank to permit free ingress of air when thehead is lowered by a force of atmospheric pressure or by the operatorpressing downwardly upon the nut 35. By adjusting the nut 35 upon theshank 30 the tension of the spring may be regulated so that the valvewill open at any desirable pressure thereby automatically regulating theamount of vacuum produced in the container 1. After the required amountof vacuum has been established and if at this time the safety valve hasnot operated. downward pressure upon the nut 35 will unseat the gasket38 and permit ingress of air to destroy thevac-ufum in the hood 6. IVhenthisis done'the hood may -be removed from the containerwithout effort.

If' desirable I may place upon the cap piece 'i' a suitable vacuum gagesoth'at at all times the operator may' readilyfasc'ertain thesub-atmospheric pressure inthe container.

It will be noted from an inspection of the drawing that I have formedadjacent `the base of the hood, 'an annular external rib against whichVthe upper `edge 'of the .gasket 9 is adapted to abut, so that anyVertical movement of this gasket, due to pressure exerted upon the hoodin applying the device, is prevented.

The bridge piece 14C is preferably made of resilient material so thatits hooked ends 13 will at all times be held lirmly in the grooves, andyet may be readily removed therefrom when it is desired to change theadjustment of the same.

I claim 1. In a vacuum packing apparatus, for use with a containerhaving a neck and a single mouth, and a closure member for the mouthfreely closing the same, of a hood adapted to enclose the neck and forman air-tight. joint with said container, means adjustably attached tosaid hood for normally holding the closure member seated, and meansconnected to the hood for exhausting air from the container.

2. In a vacuum packing apparatus, for use with a container having a neckand a single mouth, and a closure member for the mouth freely closingthe same, of a hood adapted to enclose the neck and form an air-tightjoint with said container, means carried adjustably by said hood fornormally holding the closure member seated, and means carried by thehood for exhausting air from the container.

3. In a vacuum packing apparatus, for use with a container having a neckand a shoulder below the neck, together with a closure for the mout-h ofthe container, of air exhausting mechanism embodying in part a pump anda hood adapted to enclose the neck of the container and to form an airtight joint with the shoulder, and means adjustably carried by the hoodfor normally holding the closure member seated.

4. In a vacuum packing apparatus, the combination of a member adapted toform an air-tight connection with a container from which air is to beexhausted, a pump associated with said member, and an ad justable springseated valve for automat-ically regulating the amount of air exhaustedfrom the container together with means carried by said member forholding a closure member seated on the container.

5. In a vacuum packing apparatus, the combination of a member adapted toform an air-tight connection with a container from which air -is to heexhausted, a pump associated with saidfmember, andadjus'table means forldetermining the amount of air exhausted from the containertogeth'er'with means carried by said member for `holding a closurememberseated on the container.

vv6. In a vacuum packing apparatus, for use with a container having afreely rseated closure member, of ai hood adapted to form an fair-tightconnection with said container, a pump associated with the 'hoodfor-exhausting air therefrom and from the container, and a safety Valvecarried by the hood and adapted to regulate the amount of air exhaustedfrom the container together with mea-ns carried by the hood body forholding said closure member seated upon the container.

7.' In a vacuum packing apparatus, for use with a container having afreely seated closure member, of a hood adapted to form an air-tightconnection with said container, a pump associated with the hood forexhausting air therefrom and from the container, and an adjustablesafety valve carried by the hood and adapted to automatically regulatethe amount of air exhausted from the container, said valve adapted to bemanually actuated for breaking the vacuum in the hood together withmeans carried by the hood body for holding said closure member seatedupon the container.

8. In Vacuum packing apparatus, for use with a container having ashouldered body and a reduced neck and a freely seated closure memberclosing the mouth of the container and resting upon a sealing gasket, ofa rigid hood adapted to surround the neck of the container and tovforman air-tight joint with said shoulder, air exhausting apparatus carriedby said hood and means adjustab-ly carried by the hood body for normallyholding said closure member seated.

9. In a vacuum packing apparatus, a hood adapted to form an airtightconnection with a receptacle having a free cover or closure member, abridge piece adjustably and removably mounted in the hood and aresilient member interposed between the bridge-piece and the closuremember for holding the latter seated'upon the receptacle.

l0. In a vacuum packing apparatus, a hood adapted to form an air-tightconnection with a receptacle having a free closure member, a resilientbridge piece adjustably and removably mounted within the hood and aspring depending from the bridge piece and adapted to normally retainthe closure member in position upon the receptacle.

l1. In a vacuum packing apparatus, a hood having a plurality of internaland longitudinally spaced grooves, said hood adapted to form anair-tight joint with a receptacle having a freely movable closuremember, a bridge piece adjustably engaged llO in said grooves andresilient means interposed between the bridge piece and the closuremember for normally holding the latter seated upon the reeeptacle.

l2. In a packing apparatus, a 1nood adapted to form an air-tight jointwith a receptacle having a free closure member, said hood being providedwith longitudinally spaced and transversely separated internal grooves,a resilient bridge piece havingr booked ends adapted' to be adjustablyengaged with any of said grooves and a spring carried by and dependingfrom the bridge piece and adapted to normally retain the closure memberseated upon tbe receptacle.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature in the presence of twoWitnesses.

WALTER WARREN STEARNS.

